Laid Out Before the LORD

Hezekiah heard the words of his officials that Rabshakeh had spoken loudly outside the walls of Jerusalem. He tore his robes, put on sackcloth, and entered the house of the LORD. He sent Eliakim to Isaiah the prophet with this message, ‘This is a day of distress, rebuke, and humiliation; for children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them. Perhaps the LORD your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to taunt the living God, and will avenge the words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the remnant that is left.’

The kings of Assyria had decimated the population of Judah. Their own records reveal they took over 200,000 captives from Judah after the exiled all of Israel. Their own records Sennacherib Stele records that the king had left Hezekiah ‘caged like a bird’ in Jerusalem. Judah had no power to save themselves. If the LORD did not preserve that remnant of Israel, they would all be destroyed. The king knew the peril of his hour, so he asked for prayer from Isaiah, who had prophesied during the reign of several kings of Judah. That man of God had an open line to the LORD, so Hezekiah implores him to pray like never before.

Isaiah sent back a message, ‘The LORD says this, ‘Do not be fearful because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold, I am going to put a spirit in him so that he will hear news and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’’  

Rabshakeh return to Lachish and found that Sennacherib had left to fight against Libnah, a city he so thoroughly destroyed that archeologists argue over what ruins in Israel are that city. The discussion when he got to his king was concerning Tirhakah king of Cush coming out to fight against him. So Sennacherib sent messengers again to Hezekiah with another message. ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, ‘Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.’ Behold, you yourself have heard what the kings of Israel have done to all the land, destroying them completely. So will you be saved? Did the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed save them: Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the sons of Eden in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Sheba and Ivvah?’

Hezekiah took that letter from the hands of the messengers and read it. Then he took it to the house of the LORD and spread it out before God. The king prayed to the LORD, begin him to see and hear the words of taunting from Sennacherib. He confessed that Assyria had indeed conquered these other lands and their gods, recognizing that those gods were just man made idols. Hezekiah implored the LORD, ‘But now, O LORD our God, please save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, LORD, are God.’ Hezekiah understood that the God of Israel was the One True God who made all things and this deliverance was simple for God to accomplish. 

The Word of the LORD came to Isaiah. This is what the LORD said, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard you.’ Then Isaiah relayed the words God spoke against Sennacherib and Assyria for their boasting against the LORD. god promised to preserve the remnant of Judah and protect the city He chose for His Name to dwell in for His sake and for David’s sake. God would keep Sennacherib from coming against Jerusalem and drag him back to his own land.

So that night, the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. Those who remained alive got up the next morning and saw the dead around them. Sennacherib led his armies back home to Nineveh. And it came about when he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his false god, that he was assassinated by his two oldest sons, who then escaped to the land of Ararat. His youngest son Esarhaddon was made king in his place.

Those who fight against God may boast of their power all they wish, but God is not limited. He knows how to deliver and will deliver those who call out to Him. Hezekiah placed all his trust in God alone so that God would receive the praise and glory. The words of the LORD came to pass, for He delivered His people out of the hand of their enemies. The remnant was preserved and were free in their own land. This began the downfall of the Assyrian Empire, which would be destroyed by Babylon.